DETROIT — Even the best players in baseball fight self-doubt. Miguel Cabrera is no different.

We just think he is, mostly because his periods of uneven play are so short.

Or arrive later in the season, when he already has deposited a half-dozen did-you-see-that moments in the bank.

Cabrera didn’t add to his reservoir of awe Thursday in the Tigers’ 7-4 win over the Chicago White Sox at Comerica Park as much as remind everyone he’s still here. That it’s still early. That, yeah, a single up the middle with the bases loaded in a one-run game is still a fine result for a late-inning at-bat.

Scherzer meant it wasn’t easy to find the words that capture his talent.

So let me try.

How about … patience?

Or … relax.

Here’s a question: Must we always ascribe a slump to the signing of an outsized contract? Here’s another: Do we always have to assume the worst once a player reaches a certain age?

How about no and no.

Sure, it’s possible Cabrera won’t regain the form that earned him our attention and all that money. But I doubt it.

Cabrera repeatedly has said he feels fine after off-season surgery to his core muscle. There is no reason not to believe him. The issue is more about timing.

The two-time MVP played hurt the final month of last season and through the playoffs and adjusted his approach at the plate because of it. Even though he is back to his normal physical state, he is still in the process of regaining his preinjury form.

In other words, Cabrera hasn’t been himself since August. The panic hit its crescendo Monday when the slugger’s batting average dipped to .206. He went 0-4 that night against the White Sox.

But as manager Brad Ausmus said that night, Cabrera hit the ball hard and just missed a couple of home runs. It may be trite — even tiresome — to cite this when a hitter is scuffling, but Cabrera deserves that we look past an 0-for-4 and gauge his swing.

The bat speed has been there all season. Monday, the rhythm was better.

Ausmus said Cabrera adjusted his stance this week and shifted his weight farther back.

He explained: “When guys don’t get back — or drift forward — their head is moving and they don’t pick up the spin on the pitch, the ball (gets) to them quicker, and their timing is just completely off. Not to mention they don’t have their weight in the swing.”

This means less power. This also means less reaction time. Without either, it’s difficult to spray the ball to every part of the field.

Cabrera’s two-run single in the seventh inning Thursday split the shortstop and second base. His RBI single in the third inning found the hole between first and second.

The hits — along with his home run and double Tuesday — lifted his average to .250, or 46 points better than where he’d left it Monday.

“He’s looked much better the last few days,” Ausmus said.

Maybe he’s not quite the once-in-a-generation Cabrera we witnessed for most of the past two years just yet, but what we saw this week gives us reason to think he will resemble that player soon.

“I want to play better,” he said, “to believe in my swing, my hands, to find the pitch, to find the hole.”

Again, he is doing those things. Expect that to continue. For a while.

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